1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to osteotome, and more particularly to a sinolift ridge expansion osteotome for sinus lifting, dental ridge expansion and trepanelevation.
2. Description of Related Arts
One of the most common anatomical limitations in oral implantology is bone atrophy of the upper maxilla. Narrow alveolar crests make it difficult to do implant surgery. In 1994, the first cylindrical-conical expansion osteotome was developed expanding atrophic bone crests in order to secure sufficient bone width for dental implant placement. Living bone is much softer than dried bone, and can be drilled hole and stretched open, which is called bone expansion. After an area of bone has bone expansion, it allows for larger dental implants to be inserted into the bone. Since larger implants have greater area to bond to the bone and so have a better long term prognosis. Before the bone expansion procedure, a small hole is first drilled though the center of the area of the bone to be expanded. Then a series of bone expansion tools are tapped into the hole. As the bone expansion tools get progressively larger, the hole in the bone gets progressively larger and the walls expand. The hole created by the bone expansion can then be filled with bone or an implant can be immediately inserted into the hole. Bone expansion expands or widens the walls of the bone.
Currently, the frequently used tools for bone expansion are osteotomes. Generally an osteotome has an active part, a handle, and a posterior part to apply the mallet. The active part is slightly conical, and has two different shapes: Sharpened and concave. Osteotomes with sharpened tips are used to perform bone expansion and ridge splitting. Osteotomes with concave ends are used to achieve bone compactation and to make elevation of sinus via alveolar approach. However, there are disadvantages for both ends which cause some surgery failure and perforation of sinus. For example, because the sharpened tip has one contact tip at the top, sometimes the tip will slide away from the desired point on the bone when a force is exerted. This is danger to provide such an unexpected force in the narrow ridge bone area. Also, a sharpened tip can only drill into the bone but fail to compress the bone at the bottom of the sinus. The concave end also has a problem. The concave enlarge the area of the inner face, with the same force applied, the intention of the pressure is reduced. As a result, larger force must be exerted onto the osteotome to condense the bone crest, and it will be more difficult to control. While force being applied, patient can feel serious vibration throughout the whole head, skull and neck, which is very uncomfortable to patient. This often increases anxiety and scariness of patient. Also, tapping of the expansion osteotome with the surgical mallet is another process highly depends on the personal skills of the operators, which means technique sensitive. This introduces more uncertainty during a surgery.
According to study, there were millions of patients receiving dental implant surgeries annually in the past few years. Therefore, to invent an innovative osteotome is a compelling necessity in order to benefit millions of patients, who received dental implant surgeries.